La part des anges

The angels' share, la part des anges, is that part of the alcohol in cognac which is evaporated as the spirit matures in its casks.  I well remember our first trip to Cognac and the air seemed sweet with its aroma.  The memory of that trip came scenting back on a more recent staycation in County Fermanagh.

However, I wasn't expecting the angels' share to be provided by a glass warming technique that we experienced when we visited the Watermill Lodge near Lisnaskea 



Our very friendly and knowledgeable sommelier, Flavien, first placed a brandy glass upside down on his service table and then filled the dimple in the base with a small amount of the house XS cognac.  This he then lit with a gas torch and as the flame took hold he suspended another cognac glass upside down over the rising heat. He did this twice, once for each glass, and then served us a measure of a finer cognac in the warmed glass.  Other diners paused their meals to witness the spectacle.  None of us had seen this before. Flavien clearly had the 'nac.

Pity about the angels.  They got a share of the more modest one on the house.

Follow that?
Well we stayed for two nights at the Watermill and on the second we repeated the experience and then were treated to a visit of the restaurant's wine store. I've never been as close before to some of France's most sought after wines.  Neither the angels nor I were having any of that; the corks were still firmly in place.
Will visit again soon to see how they're doing.......